Protect our prophets

The news of the murder case quickly spread throughout the school, and the teaching building was full of students discussing it, but they were stopped by the Disciplinary Committee.Before the police arrive, they have to make sure no one sneaks in, or conversely - flees the scene.

This is also thanks to Genichiro Sanada.He is not only the vice minister of the tennis department, but also the chairman of the discipline committee, and he organized the staff immediately.

but……

"If it was done by an outsider, the murderer would definitely not stay here, would he have already run away?"

I don't know who said such a sentence, everyone fell silent, although they didn't make a sound, they kept looking at Songxue.

She was the first to arrive at the scene, and naturally, the most suspected.

After Kawahara Airi's voiceless accusation was firmly interrupted by Matsumoto Yuko, she didn't dare to speak anymore, and sat curled up on the steps near the corner, her shoulders still trembling faintly.

Kojo Miya sat beside her, hugged her waist tightly, held Matsumoto's with the other hand, bit her lip, and looked down.They were terrified by the bloody scene of the crime.

Liu Sheng turned his head worriedly and looked towards Songxue.

She looked at her hand being held by Yukimura, and couldn't tell whether it was her or the other person who was nervous.

while others—

Songxue looked over, and she was not familiar with the main selections of the tennis club.This was the first time she saw them together after visiting in the ward, and she took a moment to match the names and faces one by one.

Wearing a ball cap is Sanada.He frowned, his eyes stayed on Songxue's face for a moment, and then turned to the landing.

"What's going on?" He looked at his teammates, and then at a few girls.

Beside him is the military advisor of the tennis club, Liu Lian Er. He looked around the entire stairway and the nearby corridors, drew a simple topographic map in his notebook, and then lightly poked the paper with the tip of his pen, thoughtfully .

Only Bunta Marui didn't look at anyone.

He lowered his head, his hands were clenched into fists by his sides, his face was still flushed after exercising, and his forehead was covered with sweat, but his lips were white from being bitten.

His old partner Kuwahara put his arm around his shoulders, trying to comfort him, but it didn't work.

Matsumoto Yuko stood up from the steps. Although her complexion was not very good, her voice was calm: "Ayanokouji is missing. We couldn't find her in the club room of the support team or the outdoor court of the tennis club. Someone said that she had an appointment this afternoon. Songxue is in the classroom, so I just wanted to... come and have a look." Having said this, she quickly lowered her eyelashes, and pursed her lips slightly uneasily.

"Ayanokōji's temper is a bit stubborn. I couldn't persuade her before, so I asked Airi and the others to come with me, so as not to quarrel... But I didn't expect to see something like this..."

Matsumoto sobbed briefly, and his voice gradually choked up: "I really didn't expect..."

Liu Sheng pondered and said, "So, when the three of you came up from the first floor, you saw Songxue standing here, right?"

Xiaocheng nodded: "We don't know why she didn't move here, and then came up to see—"

She silently looked at Songxue.

There was another dead silence.

The black curly-haired first grader coughed dryly and turned his head, whispering, "Then it's obvious, who did it..."

"Chiya!" Sanada glared at him, "There is no evidence, so don't speak nonsense."

"Yeah, this is murder. It's not a joke." Renwang said slowly, "If there is a quarrel between classmates, it's fine if you accidentally fall down the stairs. But... if there is no Premeditated, who would carry a knife with them?"

"..."

"But if it wasn't Hikari Matsuyuki, then who would have done it?" Airi Kawahara stood up suddenly, staring at Matsuyuki intently.

She glanced at her, seemed to understand something, turned her head to Yukimura and raised her eyebrows, signaling him to let go first.

I don't know if his teammates looked at this scene and thought that the two of them were resurrected... Uh.Awkward.

"It can't be me." Songxue straightened her sleeves, raised her head to look at the crowd, noticed what Kawahara wanted to say, and didn't give her this chance, she continued decisively, "Look——"

She walked up the stairs again, but stopped at the top after a few floors, pointing behind her.

"You may not have looked carefully. Before the police arrive, you might as well take a closer look. Judging from the degree of coagulation of the blood, Rie Ayanokoji was killed for at least half an hour... maybe an hour. Now it is 45 minutes , Calculating back, the murder took place between 03:30 and [-]:[-]. I think it should be before [-]:[-], because the club activities were not over at that time, it was the safest time to do it, [-]:[-] After that, students will pass by here one after another, and they may crash the murder scene."

"How do you know that?" Marui raised his head abruptly, his eyes widening.

She had to think for a while before answering: "Uh, let's experience it."

"Do you even have this kind of experience?" Kirihara opened his mouth.

Songxue murmured, and said slowly: "Well, I really don't remember much about what happened before the car accident, but...maybe I'm a born detective?"

"..."

"We can wait for the forensic doctor's autopsy results for the specific time of death, but it is probably within this time range, and the error will not be too large." Songxue continued.

"So it can't be me. At 03:30, I was still in the Yuhama business district. There were several camera surveillance on the road, which should be able to take pictures. Until half an hour ago, I went back to school. At the gate, I met The head of Ice Empress—hey, didn’t he go to the tennis club to find you? How come you came to the teaching building at this time?”

Songxue looked over suspiciously.

Now it was the turn of the main players in the tennis club to look at each other.

"Let me explain." With one sentence, Yukimura took control.

"Atobu couldn't find the tennis club, so they called me, but they didn't describe where they were, so I had to come out with everyone to pick them up..."

He smiled tactfully and looked at his teammates: "Is this not slandering the opponent's image?"

Everyone shook their heads in silence.

Songxue: "...uh."

Can't you tell, that young master Atobe with thick eyebrows and big eyes will still get lost!

With a click, the door of the classroom opened, Yukimura walked in, and saw Matsuyuki standing in the middle of the activity room of the reasoning club, looking at the works on the row of bookshelves by the wall.

"She has been picked up." Yukimura said briefly, closed the door again, and walked slowly to her side.

"What about the rest?"

"The police officer is investigating the situation of Ayanokouji's friends..." He paused, "I may ask you to ask questions later."

Songxue let out an "oh", this development was completely expected, she was not surprised.

"So, before that, do you want to exchange some information with me?" she asked.

"Yes, I think it may be very important." Yukimura seemed worried that she would feel uneasy, and quickly added, "Don't worry, with Hyotei's Atobe and Shinozuzu testifying for you, they won't regard you as a suspect."

"Oh, I guess so, maybe Atobe-kun has a lot of influence?" Songxue nodded solemnly, his eyes glowing slightly, "I have to find a chance to thank them, and thank you, Ninzu, for chatting with me on a whim. sentence."

"...You don't seem to be affected by anything." Yukimura looked at her seriously for a while, before hesitating to speak.

No, not so much that it doesn't affect it, but rather, it's more exciting.Songxue was slightly shy: "How should I put it, I feel that my major is useful?"

"..."

Fine.

"Okay, let's get down to business." Songxue immediately said solemnly.

After all, it's murder.Although the dead classmate didn't have a good relationship with me, she was a living, young girl after all.

She didn't intend to make fun of other people's deaths.However, this afternoon, the atmosphere was too heavy, and she had to cheer herself up.

Yukimura stared intently at the row of photos of mystery novelists hanging on the wall, and said after a while: "What I want to ask most is, did you see anything when you saw Ayanokouji for the first time when you returned to school?" ?”

He turned his head and met Songxue's eyes.

She nodded without thinking.

"Yes, I saw it." But when she said it, she still hesitated, "But, you know, I also saw a lot of people, so I didn't notice anything special... Wait a minute."

She frowned, trying to think back: "I may remember a little... What did King Ni say at that time?"

"Huh?" Yukimura didn't respond, "You mean, he mentioned the murder weapon?"

"This is it!"

Songxue wanted to snap her fingers to express this flash of inspiration, but she couldn't snap her fingers...

She just subconsciously clenched her palms and pressed them on the desk beside her.

"I know what the problem is," she said quickly, "that knife, I only saw it the day I woke up. When I first came to school—"

Songxue paused for a moment: "I did see Ling Xiaolu collapsed at the stairs, unconscious."

The eyes of the two met in mid-air.

"It's a bit strange, isn't it?" She scratched her cheek and said with some embarrassment.

"No, I thought of another possibility." Yukimura said, "The real cause of Ayanokoji's death may not be what we have seen. If she fell down the stairs, she would have died, and then, the murderer And mended that knife again—"

He guessed, then shook his head, unable to understand: "But, what is the intention of doing this, is it to cover up something? But if the murderer just accidentally pushed her down the stairs, how can he explain that he carried a knife as a murder weapon? "

"I don't know either." Songxue looked at him, then shrugged, "Maybe I was panicked for a while, or maybe I had a deep hatred, thinking that since I've done it, why not have a better time, just... After all, how can we understand the murderer?" We are not murderers."

"You also said just now that it might be a spur of the moment—"

"Ordinary people can't become murderers, Yukimura-kun." She let go of her palm and touched the edge of the table unconsciously. People put caterpillars in my shoe cabinet or splash paint, but they don’t tell people to drive over me on purpose. Those things are of a completely different nature.”

Yukimura pondered: "So, you don't think she's the one behind the car accident?"

"Well, I believe it's not her." Songxue said, "There is another thing that has been lingering in my mind... Maybe it has something to do with her death."

Yukimura looked back at the wall again.

He only recognized the headshot of Agatha Christie, because Yagyu used her photo religiously as a "talisman" in his wallet, and when it was discovered, everyone looked around in surprise.

So impressive.

At this time, he smiled slightly: "It seems that we have also become detectives."

Songxue tilted her head to look at him.

Yukimura coughed lightly and turned around: "It's nothing, let's continue."

"Oh, I'm not sure if it's because my thoughts are too wild and unconstrained." Songxue stroked her forehead.

"The Kawahara students who were present at the scene suspected me for the first time. Why? In the class before, everyone said that I was hit by a car because I messed with Ayanokoji. Although they didn't say it clearly, it seems that they all suspected Ayanokōji asked someone to do it, so it is logical to think that I hold a grudge and want to take revenge on her."

When she said this, she shook her head: "But it suddenly occurred to me that Ling Xiaolu is a very straightforward person. In the past few days, the classmates in the class will be interrupted by her when they talk or speak ill of me in front of her. If she Hearing that, she will definitely deny it on the spot, right?"

On the surface, this has nothing to do with her death, but Yukimura still quickly followed Matsuyuki's train of thought.

"You mean, the real culprit after the car accident—if such a person existed—the real culprit knew her character and habits, and the students in the class knew it too. They would like to believe her, so they would turn to suspect others .”

Songxue nodded worriedly: "The real culprit was worried that he would be discovered, so he took action first to get rid of Ayanokoji—is this idea a bit absurd?"

"Not necessarily." Yukimura's reaction was unexpectedly calm, "You also said that you can't use ordinary people's thinking to understand the murderer."

Both fell silent.

They are surrounded by major mystery novelists in the center of the classroom, watching them with smiling or serious silent faces.

The surrounding area was quiet. Although the reasoning agency was located on the fourth floor of the entire event building, the busy voices of the police officers downstairs were separated by the corridor and the wall, which could hardly affect the quiet air.

Songxue sat down against the desk in frustration, and said after a while: "This kind of thinking actually makes me feel better."

"……can you?"

"Well, when I became the first person to discover the crime scene, my reaction at the time was, would someone do such a thing to frame me..." She raised her head and looked at the smiling Agatha , "If that's the case, I'm still responsible for her death."

Yukimura remained silent.

Then, Songxue stood up suddenly, turned and walked towards the door.

"I heard footsteps, they should be looking for me. See you later, Yukimura-kun."

Not long after she walked out, someone knocked lightly on the door again.

Yukimura turned his head and saw Yagyu walking in.

"She's gone?" He looked around, but he wasn't surprised, "Oh... It seems that I'm worrying too much."

"We are worrying too much." Yukimura corrected.

Faced with suspicion from classmates, inquiries from the police, and questioning from Ayanokouji's family, no one would feel overwhelmed, right?There's already a victim and they don't want to see another innocent person harmed.

Even if her alibi is more sufficient than others, but after all, she had a deep conflict with Ayanokōji before.

In this campus full of young people, words are formidable.

Therefore, Yagyu proposed before the police arrived that Songxue should come to the reasoning agency to rest for a while.He is a club member and has the key to the activity room.

Songxue understood their kindness.

But she knew that she didn't need such excessive protection.

At this point, she was led before two police officers at the scene.The male police officer was flipping through the notebook, which recorded the questioning of the students and teachers just now, while the female police officer gently asked her to sit down: "I heard that you were the first person to discover it. I hope you are not feeling uncomfortable."

"I'm okay."

Songxue briefly outlined her experience of the whole afternoon, watched them complete the notes, and nodded to herself.

The male police officer finally stopped writing and sighed with his colleagues: "Oh, young people of this generation in Japan, who would have thought that these high school students would also—"

"Hush." ​​The female police officer seriously warned, "There is no evidence that it must have been done by the students. Maybe it was a teacher? Or was it a social person who sneaked into the school?"

"Well, it is indeed possible. How is the investigation on the monitoring side?"

"There are several dead ends and the possibility of external intrusion cannot be ruled out."

"But as expected, the people around me are the most likely to—"

The female police officer raised her eyebrows: "You mean these weak girls stabbed a classmate with a knife and pushed her downstairs?"

"The deceased was not weak," the male police officer said hesitantly. "If there was a physical dispute, she would actually have the advantage. That's why there was that knife at the scene? Well, it's just my guess."

His colleague also frowned: "It seems reasonable to say so. If the murderer has a weapon as a threat, the deceased will not dare to fight back... This can also explain our previous question, why the murderer brought a knife in advance, maybe It was premeditated, maybe I just wanted to scare Ayanokōji, but accidentally missed..."

The two chatted intently for a while, and suddenly found that Songxue was still sitting here, not leaving, looking at them curiously.

The male police officer suddenly felt a little embarrassed, and coughed heavily: "Is there anything else for this classmate? Did you think of any clues?"

She shook her head: "I want to know, have the forensic results come out, and what is the cause of Ayanokoji's death?"

The two police officers looked at each other in surprise.The female police officer stood up, picked up her mobile phone and hurried out of the classroom.

After a while, she came back.

"It was an impact on the back of the head, and the trauma to the chest was caused after death." She reported the autopsy results to her colleagues.

Both were silent.

They turned their heads and looked at Matsuyuki probingly, just like the expression of Takagi and Sato looking at a certain elementary school student.

"How did you guess?"

"The amount of bleeding is not large." Of course she couldn't explain her "prophecy" ability, so she could only explain in a concise manner, "I read too many mystery novels, so I thought about it a little bit..."

The male police officer thumped his palms: "I remembered, the student just now also said, it was you who estimated that the time of death was before four o'clock?"

The female police officer pondered, and suddenly showed a cautious expression, looking at Songxue: "Student, your surname is not Edogawa, right?"

"..."

She cleared her throat modestly and said, "Why, I'm just an ordinary high school student."